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Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.
John 15:13
Reflect
Some of my favorite passages of scripture are the parables that Jesus used to teach his disciples. One of those that doesn’t get a lot of attention is the parable of the pearl (Matthew 15:45-46). Jesus told the story of a pearl merchant who found the perfect pearl and sold everything he had so he could buy that one pearl. While the parable primarily teaches us about the immeasurable value of salvation and all that Christ offers us, it also shows us that we will set aside everything when we find the one thing that we truly want.
About 75 years ago, another very successful merchant made a decision to part with everything he had to purchase about 1,200 “pearls.” The man in question is Oskar Schindler, made famous by the Oscar-winning movie, “Schindler’s List.” Schindler, who died 47 years ago today, was a member of the Nazi party and was happily profiting from making weapons for the war. But while he was running his factory, he was also becoming aware of the value of his Jewish employees and of the certainty that they would one day perish as part of the Nazis’ “final solution.” So Schindler put together his list of 1,200 factory workers, and he began using his fortune to bribe Nazi officials and to buy black market supplies to provide for his workers.
By the end of the war, Schindler had spent everything and had nothing left for himself — just the safety of everyone on his list. He was not even initially given any honor for what he had done and faced potential war crimes charges. After the war, his business ventures failed and he lived mostly on the generosity of Jews who were aware of what he did to help 1,200 Jews survive the Holocaust. After he died, he became the only former Nazi to be buried on Mount Zion outside of Jerusalem.
Schindler’s sacrifice should remind us of a fraction of what Jesus did for each of us. More than the pearl of great price, we are the friends that Jesus sacrificed and laid down his life to save. But while Oskar Schindler parted with mere money, Jesus gave up the riches of Heaven and eventually his own life to make sure that we were spared from a fate worse than physical death. With His death, Jesus ransomed us from the clutches of Satan, and our response should be like that merchant who risked everything for the greatest pearl of all time. We were worth everything He had to offer; He should be more than worth everything we have to give in return.
Reflection copyright © 2025 Doug DeBolt.
